Poroshenko signs disputed Ukrainian language law

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law a controversial bill that requires, starting in 2020, students to be taught in Ukrainian from the 5th grade onwards, AFP reports. Students will still be allowed to study their native languages as separate subjects. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis recently canceled a trip to Ukraine in protest of the bill, saying it drastically limits the access of minorities in Ukraine to education in their native language. Ukraine’s sizable Hungarian and Polish minorities are also upset over the new law, and the issue has further inflamed tensions between Kiev and Moscow, which claims it is trying to protect the many native Russian speakers in Ukraine.